As BWW reported yesterday, the 2013-2014 Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the final time this season to determine the eligibility rules for the 2014-2015 season.

The Administration Committee determined that Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical Categories would be eliminated from the established list of competitive categories, beginning with the 2014-2015 season. The Tony Administration Committee may bestow a Special Tony Award to a production when it determines that extraordinary sound design has been achieved.

In response to the decision, sound designer John Gromada, who was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play for 2013's revival of The Trip to Bountiful, has started an online petition to reverse the Committee's ruling.

Sound Design is a theatrical design art that is a critical part of the collaborative art of theatre. The American Theatre Wing should continue to honor excellence in sound design as it does for scenery, costume and lighting design, and as it has done since 2008. Sound designers are an important part of the theatrical community whose vital contributions cannot be ignored or dismissed. Reverse this decision now!

The petition, which has currently garnered over 6,400 signatures, can be viewed here.

At the 2014 Tony Awards, which aired live last Sunday from Radio City Music Awards, Steve Canyon Kennedy received the Tony for Best Sound Design of a Play for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, while Brian Ronan picked up the award for Best Sound Design of a Musical for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.